Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the lack of registration for handgun sales during a question-and-answer session with reporters at the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday.
When asked about handguns, Governor Harris responded by calling for a ban on “assault weapons.”
She also urged background checks for everyone, saying, “…before someone purchases a lethal weapon, they may want to know if they've ever been determined by a court to be a danger to themselves or others.”
The reporter then interrupted, “Excuse me, but I understand that.”
“I'm asking specifically about handguns,” the reporter continued.
Harris joked that “background checks even apply to handguns,” but the reporter added, “But in many cases, those guns weren't even purchased legally.”
Harris then changed the topic, talking about her past protests at gun shows and “closing the gun show loophole” by requiring handgun sellers to “register their sales.”
On August 30, 2015, Breitbart News pointed to a study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab which interviewed “inmates at Cook County Jail who had been charged with gun offenses or had a criminal record related to gun crimes” and found that these offenders obtained guns off the street through “personal connections” rather than through gun shows, the internet, or other means.
According to Chicago TribuneHarold Pollack, co-director of the crime lab, said the study shows “several pathways are at play. [regarding guns] “Gun control laws don't seem to be as prevalent as people are worried about,” he said. Few inmates said they went to gun shows or used the Internet. Instead, they get guns on the street, where no one can find them. Inmates know they're at risk of being caught by police, but “I'm more worried about being in a situation where I don't have a gun to protect myself and I get shot than I am about being caught by the police,” he said.
Election Must-Knows: Kamala Harris' True Gun Control Policy
Ahawkins
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Constitutional Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the author and curator of Breitbart News' weekly Constitutional Amendment newsletter, Down Range with AWR Hawkins, which focuses on all things Constitutional Amendment. He is a political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a pro staff member for Pulsar Night Vision, and the Global Marketing Director for Lone Star Hunts. He was a visiting scholar at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and earned his PhD in Military History. Follow him on Instagram. FollowIf you'd like to subscribe to Down Range, please sign up at breitbart.com/downrange. To get in touch directly, please email awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
